Low economic conditions in China’s urban areas have sparked an increase of beggars faking disabilities in an attempt to gain more money. Cities like Shanghai and Hong Kong are littered with naive tourists who are more than willing to hand over a few yen to anyone appearing to be handicapped in anyway.

Shanghai-based artist Hong Yi, also known as Red, used 750 pair of socks to create a rather unusual sock portrait of famous Chinese film director Zhang Yimou. Yi, which is famous for her Coffee Stain Portrait, spent over three weeks on the project and used black, white and grey socks. (Photo by Ohiseered.com)

Chinese woman Duo Zirong feeds stray cats at her home February 14, 2006 in Shanghai, China. Duo Zirong, a Daur ethnic minority group woman from Inner Mongolia and reported as the “Cat Woman”, has housed about 300 cats with her Shanghainese husband Liu Junluo and mother-in-law. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

“Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (17 June [O.S. 5 June] 1882 – 6 April 1971) was a Russian-born, naturalized French, later naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor. He is widely acknowledged as one of the most important and influential composers of 20th century music. He was a quintessentially cosmopolitan Russian who was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people of the century. He became a naturalized French citizen in 1934 and a naturalized US citizen in 1945. In addition to the recognition he received for his compositions, he also achieved fame as a pianist and a conductor, often at the premieres of his works”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Composer Igor Stravinsky (right) and impresario Sergei Diaghilev in Seville during their Ballets Russes collaboration. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images). 1921

Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) plotters at work at Coastal Artillery Headquarters in Dover, December 1942. The Auxiliary Territorial Service was the women's branch of the British Army during the Second World War. It was formed on 9 September 1938, initially as a women's voluntary service, and existed until 1 February 1949, when it was merged into the Women's Royal Army Corps. The ATS had its roots in the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC), which was formed in 1917 as a voluntary service. During the First World War its members served in a number of jobs including clerks, cooks, telephonists and waitresses. The WAAC was disbanded after four years in 1921. (Photo by Ted Dearberg/IWM/PA Wire)

Russian servicemen display military camouflage equipments during the joint military anti-terrorist command and staff exercise of the armed forces of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states Peace Mission-2021 at the Donguz training ground in the Orenburg region, Russia, 23 September 2021. More than 3.4 thousand servicemen from Russia, India, China, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and more than 600 units of weapons, military and special equipment are involved in the exercise Peace Mission-2021. (Photo by Maxim Shipenkov/EPA/EFE)

A municipal worker who helped with traffic control near a school is presented with flowers at the end of the national college entrance examinations, known as the gaokao, in Beijing, Friday, June 10, 2022. More than 11 million high school students throughout China took the annual college entrance exams which started on Tuesday after the country has just overcome severe COVID-19 outbreaks in Shanghai and Beijing, according to state media. (Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)

This picture taken on September 14, 2024 shows Japanese wrestler Yuki Kamifuku (R) fighting her opponent “Crystal” of the Philippines during a Middle Kingdom Wrestling (MKW) championship event in Shanghai. Despite a promising potential domestic market, the Chinese pro wrestling community has been battling for recognition and financial stability for decades. (Photo by Wang Zhao/AFP Photo)